Ilham Aliyev expressed hope that Armenia and Azerbaijan will sign the peace agreement proposed by Baku. The President of Azerbaijan emphasized that Yerevan and Baku have already agreed on about 80 percent of the document.
In his speech at the international conference in Chernobyl, Italy, the leader of Azerbaijan did not clarify about which issues the disagreements persist.
“We have already reached the process of border demarcation, even demarcation. Yes, this is the first small step: only a 13-kilometer section of the 1000-kilometer border with Armenia has been agreed upon. However, this is a step in the right direction, and we hope that this initiative of Azerbaijan for peace negotiations will lead to the signing of a peace treaty,” President Aliyev announced in his speech at the international conference in the Italian city of Chernobyl.
Aliyev accuses Armenia of aggressive policy
It is not clear when Yerevan and Baku intend to continue the demarcation process and whether Azerbaijan will withdraw its troops from the sovereign territories of Armenia, which it occupied during the 2021-2022 Azerbaijani invasions. Instead today The leader of Azerbaijan in the international audience, he once again accused Armenia of an aggressive policy, and conditioned his own actions to the inactivity of international structures, once again openly declaring that Baku achieved its goals through military means.
Enumerating the wars of recent years, the large-scale attack against Nagorno-Karabakh and the subsequent forced deportation of Armenians, President Aliyev asserted: “Azerbaijan’s sovereignty has been fully restored”, “the conflict has ended as it should have”.
The leader of Azerbaijan, who was not subject to any sanctions for those military attacks against the neighboring country, advised other countries to follow Baku’s example. – “And this is a good example for many other countries that are fighting for their territorial integrity and sovereignty without any success.”
Aliyev is in Italy on a working visit, he had meetings with the authorities of that country, including the president and prime minister.
Italy, a member of the European Union, is the leading trade partner of Azerbaijan and the largest importer of Azerbaijani oil. In recent years, the two countries have started to cooperate in the military-technical field as well. Rome last year Baku sold C-27J types of military aircraft.
At the same time, the head of the Italian government, Giorgia Meloni, received the president of Azerbaijan yesterday at her residence and called for peace, assuring that Rome supports the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan aimed at stable peace.
Against the background of the announcements made in Italy about the hopes of establishing peace in the South Caucasus, the armed forces of Azerbaijan are regular conducts military exercises On the direct border with Armenia.
Before the exercises, for days, Baku accused the Armenian side of opening fire in the direction of Azerbaijani positions, which Yerevan denied.
The military department of Azerbaijan reports that Minister Zakir Hasanov was personally present during the military exercises on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and checked the combat readiness of the country’s army, instructing the military to “keep vigilance high”.
